5 Top iPhone Apps for Election Coverage

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Election season is here, and the Republican primary debates are gathering steam. Keep up with all the latest news and polls on the go, using these apps designed for your Apple ( AAPL) iPhone.

iDemocrat, iRepublican

There are a quite a few apps geared towards the elections, but the iDemocrat and iRepublican are simple apps that allow you to show your political colors proudly on your iPhone. The free version of the app merely offers a picture of a donkey or an elephant to display on your phone.

The paid version, 99 cents, gets updated twice a week with stats on how many people have downloaded the apps. There are separate apps for iDemocrat and iRepublican, so keep that in mind when downloading the particular app you want.

Polis is the only app of its kind that offers information on national polls and election results. Major polls -- those, say, from Time, ABC/Washington Post, and Pew Research, are automatically updated and displayed front and center, as are battleground states that allow you to see which are red states, which are blue.

Battleground states can change quickly, and the app accurately reflects that via its updates.

On election day, the app will provide up to the minute results on exit polls and returns, by state, so that you will be in the known as developments happen.

New York Times Election 2012

The New York Times ( NYT) app includes updates from many of The Times' properties, including The Caucus blog and FiveThirtyEight, as well as various sources around the Web. It also includes poll numbers, info about the candidates, and state-by-state updates.

This app allows you to access to six free The New York Times articles and is free to download, but after you've read the quota, you have to sign up for a subscription.

The Times has two different subscription models: NYTimes.com and smartphone apps are $14.99 per month; for all digital access, which includes the NYTimes news app for the iPhone and iPad, as well as unlimited access to NYTimes.com, it's $34.99 per month.

POLITICO

POLITICO has become a go-to source for all things politics, including in-depth coverage on the 2012 presidential race. The POLITICO app is very easy to navigate, and the site is known to break news faster than other news outlets.

POLITICO has a slew of journalists breaking news from the White House, Capitol Hill, and lobbyists, as well as how they interact with Wall Street, the media and various personalities. POLITICO has been around since January 2007.

The app continuously checks for updates, on variety of different content, including articles, videos, and polls. You can immediately update the app as well, if you want the latest information now, using the pull-to-refresh mechanism located into section list.

POLITICO is owned by Allbritton Communications Company, which owns television stations and other media outlets.

Candidates

Candidates is a free app that allows you to pick exactly which Presidential candidate is right for you. You can match up your opinions with those of the candidate, then hopefully find a candidate that mirrors your own images.

The Candidates app asks you a series of questions, and then based upon your answers, matches you up with the Republican, Democratic or independent candidate best suited to your responses. You can also research a particular topic with articles generates from each question if you are uncertain on a particular issues.

Once you are finished, you can learn more about the candidates, as the app provides you links to various Web sites, research pages and social media outlets about each candidate. You can also view which candidate has been agreed with on certain issues, in a results poll to see where you stack up.